Born on Sakhalin Island, Japan. Actor and film star whose trademark was his shaved head. He played the King of Siam in the Broadway (1951) and film (1956) versions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's The King and I. He also gained critical acclaim for his role as leader of the Magnificent Seven in the film of the same name in 1956. In a June 1978 New York Times interview, he said it was uplifting to hear the call "Upre, Roma!" (Arise, Romanies!) at the second World Romany Congress, of which he was a patron, and announced that he intended to go to the forthcoming Chandigarh Festival. However, his claim to have Romany ancestry is thrown into doubt by his son Rock's biography (The Man Who Would Be King), which states that his father was brought up with Gypsies but was not one himself. He appears on a Mantitor LP, produced in New York, singing in Russian and Romani with Aliosha Dimitrievitch.

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BRYNNER, Yul — (1920–1985) Yul Brynner traded in mystery and exoticism throughout his career, whether as the lead in The King and I (1956) through countless productions; Pharaoh Rameses in The Ten Commandments (1956) ; the Mongolian emperor in Taras Bulba… … Westerns in Cinema

Brynner, Yul — ▪ American actor original name Taidje Khan born July 11, 1920?, Sakhalin Island, Russian S.F.S.R. died Oct. 10, 1985, New York, N.Y., U.S. American stage and motion picture actor who was known primarily for his performance as the Siamese … Universalium